Believe in what you sell… or don't sell it!

Do you really believe that what you sell will benefit your clients? Do you see each new closed deal as a win-win for your organization and your client’s organization, or just another commission check?

I recently finished reading a wonderful book covering all the in’s and out’s of the financial collapse of 2008 (remember that one?) called All the Devils Are Here. It provides a very thorough look into the events, people and industries that led to the great collapse that we are still feeling today.

The subpar ethics of subprime mortgages

When the book began explaining the sales cultures inside some of the subprime mortgage companies and their predatory lending operations, it made me realize the true ethical importance of believing in what we sell.

For those who aren’t familiar with subprime mortgages, they were the mortgages that required little to no qualifications for obtaining a home loan. These loans were more or less at the heart of what led to the eventual collapse of the industry in 2008, as most of these people could never afford to pay back the home loans they were signing off on. The subprime industry got so ludicrous at the peak of the housing bubble that many of these loans didn’t require any proof of income whatsoever. But because of how the industry was set up, the more of these subprime mortgages lenders could get home-buyers to sign off on, the more money they made. When detailing the sales practices at Ameriquest, one of the major subprime lenders, McLean and Nocera write:

“Loan officers were required to make a certain number of outbound calls each day – a hundred fifty, says [former Ameriquest employee] Bob – and there were ‘power hours’ for cold calling. Managers were ‘brutal to those who weren’t closing loans,’ recalls another former employee. Firms took anyone – ‘car wash guys, let alone car salesmen,’ laughs Bob. Executives said they hired young, inexperienced people to keep costs down, though former loan officers say the real reason was that inexperienced loan officers were less likely to realize that ‘they were screwing people over,’ as one of them put it.”

The most frustrating thing about this whole story is that, these inexperienced loan officers were making a fortune at the height of the housing bubble, more in one month than many of us could dream making in a year. And they did it, as the former employee stated, “by screwing people over.”

Selfish salespeople

While I understand that the Ameriquest example is a bit of an extreme case, I’m sure there are plenty of sales professionals out there that are selling products they half-heartedly believe in just to get that latest commission check. There are few things more dangerous than a selfish salesman selling crap products they don’t truly believe in. Salespeople owe it to themselves to look beyond the commission checks and take a good hard look at the value of what they are selling.

In today’s economy where each dollar spent by an organization demands careful review, buyers are getting much smarter and better at sniffing out a selfish salesperson. And rightfully so, in many cases, their organization depends on them to do so! Buying the wrong product can cost an organization, and for a buyer to make the excuse that they were “swindled by a savvy salesman” could cost him their job.

Believe in what you’re selling! While this may seem so obvious that it is rarely mentioned, I believe it is a critically important component to finding success in sales. It will also help you see your professional work in a positive light. If you don’t truly love and believe in what you’re selling, at best you are lying to your clients. And all the sales tips, techniques, tactics and strategies in the world can only make lying so effective.